34. In Memoriam - David Adamson 29 December 1939 to 6 October 2021

David started playing for Oxted C.C.in 1967 and soon established himself as a prolific run scorer, opening the batting for both 1st and 2nd XI’s.

In his career he played in one 1st XI league winning side in 1971, and four 2nd XI league winning sides – as far apart as 1974 and 2000! The 2000 season always ranked as one of his favourites as it saw all 3 of the Adamsons (sons Michael and Richard) playing in the same side as the 2’s won the Fullers League to return to the Surrey Championship.

On one occasion all 3 were out in the middle, David having pulled a muscle whilst batting with Richard and Mikee coming out as his runner. And yes, there was one ball where there were calls of yes, no and wait at the same time!

When David retired from playing at the age of 63 after the end of the 2003 season he took up umpiring and gave 10 years of service there, only retiring after the 2015 season as his Alzheimer’s and Vascular dementia began to take effect. He managed to achieve that rare thing as an umpire, being respected by home players and opposition alike, and all were very happy to share a drink with him in the bar afterwards no matter what the result.

He was also well-known at the cricket club for his work off the pitch. He mended and repaired broken cricket bats --there was no bat too broken for him to repair: dowels, glue and anything else that he could lay his hands on being used (often in the lounge, much to Valerie’s annoyance!), to bring an otherwise out of commission bat back into play.

David also carried out numerous other jobs around the club – he and Chalky White first built the current sightscreens in the 1960s, then he, Pete Murrell and Grant Peacock rebuilt much of them in the 1990s, and he was often seen in April painting them ready for the new season. David was also responsible for the current Club clock, and repaired the scorebox after it had been crashed into by a car.

He also took on a number of official roles such as Team Secretary (dozens of phone calls each week to confirm players in the days before email and the internet), running the bar, and 2nd XI captain and for several years he produced the Fixture card. In school holidays he made himself available to open up the Pavilion and help with refreshments for the visiting Surrey 2nd XI teams The Cricket Club made David a Life Member in 2000, something that made him very proud.

After a fall in July 2020, David spent the last year of his life in Coombe Dingle Nursing home. The staff there looked after him very well -- it helped that there were 3 or 4 nurses on the staff who were really into cricket and they often talked to him about this, or watched it with him on TV.